Nearly 1 in 4 Americans Have Had Concussion

A recent poll of more than 3,000 adults conducted by NPR and Truven Health Analytics found that almost a quarter of the polls' respondents -- 23 percent -- indicated they had suffered a concussion at some point in their lives. Roughly half of those who reported that they'd suffered a concussion said they experienced only one; about 16 percent said they'd experienced four or more. And surprisingly, perhaps, more than three-quarters of those who reported having suffered at least one concussion sought medical treatment for the injury.

"The reality of life is that mild brain injuries are a pretty common thing," said Dr. Christopher Giza, director of the UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT program, quoted at NPR.org. But Dr. Giza also pointed out that "Mother Nature designed us, for the most part, to recover from these kinds of injuries."

Nevertheless, Giza urges anyone who is suffering concussion symptoms that don't go away -- confusion, or headaches with bad nausea -- to make a trip to the emergency room.